2). Cladistics 1989, 5:164–166. 49. Hansen DS, Skov R, Benedi JV, Sperling V, Kolmos HJ: Klebsiella typing: pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in comparison with O:K-serotyping. Clin Microbiol Infect 2002, 8:397–404.PubMedCrossRef Competing interests The authors declare that there are no competing interests. Authors’ contributions ECV and MP provided the Kp13 isolate and performed bacterial identification. ALG, MFN and ATRV conceived the pyrosequencing strategy. Annotation and bioinformatics analyses were performed by LGPA, LFGZ, PIPR, RCP, ACG and MFN. The manuscript was prepared by PIPR, RCP,

ACG and MFN. All authors read buy PU-H71 and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Knowledge about types of secretion pathways in prokaryotes has proportionally increased with the number of complete genomes deposited in the nucleotide databases. Moreover, several studies of secretion systems have been conducted with the purpose of understanding the biological mechanisms involved in the association between microorganisms and their hosts, since several secretion systems in prokaryotes should be MM-102 concentration mediating the mutualistic symbiotic or pathogenic relationships. Secretion systems have been classified into seven major

evolutionarily and functionally related groups, termed types I-VII [1–6]. Type IV Secretion FG-4592 concentration system (T4SS) is one of the most functionally diverse, both in terms of the transported substrate (DNA, proteins, or DNA-protein complex) and the projected recipients (receiver cells or extracellular medium) [7]. According to this high range, three types of T4SS have been described: (i) the conjugation system (translocates DNA-protein substrates to recipient cells via a contact-dependent process) [8]; (ii) the effector translocator system (delivers proteins or other effector molecules to eukaryotic target cells) [9]; and (iii) the DNA release or uptake system (translocates DNA to or from the extracellular milieu) [10]. To accomplish that transport, Miconazole the system comprises multisubunit cell-envelope-spanning structures, which form a secretion

channel and often a pilus. Moreover, other proteins not needed for the assembly of the channel are required for the proper function of the system [11]. Most studies on T4SS have been carried out in some Gram-negative bacteria used as models: (i) the archetypal VirB/D4 encoded by pTi plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens[12]; (ii) the Helicobacter pylori ComB that secretes DNA to the extracellular milieu [13]; (iii) Tra/Trb encoded by F plasmid of Escherichia coli[14]; and (iv) Dot/Icm identified in Legionella spp [15] and Coxiella burnetti[16] and (v) Tfc in genomic islands of Haemophilus spp [17]. Currently, there is information on a few T4SS subunits of Gram-positive bacteria, which are mainly representative of conjugation systems [18]. Also, a small number of archaeal conjugation systems have been recently described, such as the conjugative plasmids of thermophilic crenarchaeal Sulfolobus spp [19].